1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rotatable pulleys for guiding travel of a cord and, more particularly, to structure for keeping a cord trained around the pulley.
2. Background Art
Rotatable pulleys for guiding travel of a cord or rope are used in many different environments. As long as there is tension on the cord it will naturally seek centered relationship on the pulley, as in a groove.
However, when the cord is slackened, there is a tendency of the cord to fall out of the groove and off of the pulley. One known solution to this problem has been to fix a shield on a shaft carrying the pulley so that the shield overlies the cord situated in the pulley groove. Normally, the shield extends only a short distance around the pulley perimeter.
This construction has the serious drawback that with the cord slackened there is a tendency of the cord to entangle with the shield. This is particularly a problem in environments where the pulley is submerged, as in water, and the cord tends to float in an uncontrolled manner.
This construction has a further drawback that the shield must be fixed, as to the shaft supporting the pulley, so that the shield remains stationary relative to the rotating pulley.